


Nightingale

by ParadoxProphet



Category: 9 (2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Depressing, Flashbacks, Other, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-26
Updated: 2010-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-09 18:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1149452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParadoxProphet/pseuds/ParadoxProphet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She used to sing with joy for the one she cared about. Now she can only sing out of sadness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightingale

**Author's Note:**

> Another old fic from 2010, though it's one I'm proud of. I wrote this for a contest where we had to write a depressing winter fanfic, and I managed to get an honerable mention for it. The song lyrics used here were Our Farewell by Within Temptation.

_"Y-y-your voice...is p-p-p-pretty..." 6 said, startling the fellow seer and artist 15. It was the middle of winter, yet no snow had yet fallen in the lifeless world. 15 had though that she was all alone, but the sudden appearence of the striped artist proved her wrong. She was taking the private time she believed to have to sing to her heart's content. Something she didn't feel safe doing in the wide open._

_"6?" she asked nervously. "Were you listening to me the entire time?" 6 simply nodded his head._

_"P-p-please... D-don't stop...because of m-m-m-me..." he said, clenching his key tightly. "I t-think it's......r-r-really pretty......coming f-from y-y-y-you..." his cheeks were completely green as he blushed._

_15 smiled, and sweetly looked at the seer. "Alright... I'll continue. In fact, I'll personally sing just for you." she said. "I'll be your very own Nightingale."_

_6 cocked his head, unfamiliar with the term 15 had used. "N-N-Nightingale?" he asked. "W-what's a...Nightingale?"_

_15 slightly giggled. "A Nightingale is a bird that can sing a beautiful song." 15 explained. "Before the machines came along, they used to sing during the night, hence the name Nightingale. And if you wish me to sing, then I'll be like your personal Nightingale. I'll sing only for you, whenever you wish."_

_A small smile spread across 6's face. "T-t-then...will you s-sing...every d-d-d-day?" 6 asked._

_"If that will make you happy, then I promise. Every day, I will sing for you."_

The memory played clearly through 15's mind. Since the day she had made that vow exactly a year ago, she had not broken it once. Slowly, she walked through the cold snow, which had came to replace the rains now that it was winter. The wind blew feircely, making it harder for her to walk. But she wasn't about to let it stop her. She was determined to make it, determined to keep her very promise. Through the harshly falling snow, 15 began to see her destination. Standing in front of her was a small wooden cross with a piece of fabric on it. On the side hung a lone, black key. The enscription "Here lies 6", was written in ink on the fabric. 15 was standng in front of a grave.

"Hi 6... I'm back..." she said, as if 6 was standing right in front of her. "Sorry I was late, the snow slowed me down. It's stronger than usual today. But I didn't let it stop me. After all, I had to come. I can't break my promise, now can I?" she paused and looked up at the falling snow. "I just wish...that you could have seen it..." she said, refering to the winter snow. This had become a habit of hers, talking to 6 as if he were still here. It was all that she could do to make her lonliness go away. Even if only for a minute. 15 let out a sigh, and began to sing.

" _In my hands...A legacy of memories...I can hear you say my name...I can almost see your smile...Feel the warmth of your embrace...But there is nothing but silence now...Around the one I loved...Is this our farewell?_ "

15 truly was the last one left of her kind. After the rains first fell, 9 and 7 went out to see if they could find a permanent home. A few weeks later, once the rains started falling again, their bodies were found next to a lifeless machine. They had killed each other, leaving 15 to take care of the twins.

" _Sweet darling, you worry too much, my child...See the sadness in your eyes...You are not alone in life...Although you might think that you are._ "

A few months later, the three of them began to retrieve the bodies of all their fallen comrades, in order to properly bury them. While trying to retrieve 6's body, 4 slipped and dropped her brother into the chasm below. When 4 and 15 found him, his body was broken beyond repair and his soul had already left him.

" _Never thought...This day would come so soon...We had no time to say goodbye...How can the world just carry on?...I feel so lost when you are not at my side...But there is nothing but silence now...Around the one I loved...Is this our farewell?_ "

A few days afterwords, 4 drowned while they were searching for 2's body in the river. 15 tried to save her, but she wasn't quick enough and ended up being too late. Since then, 15 had been all alone and was left to bury the bodies of all the others.

" _Sweet darling, you worry too much, my child...See the sadness in your eyes...You are not alone in life...Although you might think that you are_ "

Her song was a sad, as all of them were these days. Before the machine had reawakened, she had sang happy songs, but those days were no more.

Befpre long, 15 felt her body begin to weaken. She knew what the cause of it was. Everyday she had come here and stood out in rain and snow. The prolonged exposure was finally starting to take effect. The water and melted snow had soked into her fabric, causing the inner machinery to rust and fail. She had already noticed it beforehand, but now her body couldn't take anymore. It wouldn't be long before she would shut down completely. But none of that mattered to her at the moment. All that mattered was that she keep her promise. She wasn't going to leave this world before she did. She kept on going, although it was apparent that her voice could go at any minute.

" _So sorry your world is tumbling down...I'll watch...you through...these ni...ghts...Rest...yo...ur he...ad and...go to...sleep..._ " Suddenly, her voice stopped. She tried to keep singing, but only static came whenever she did. Her voice box had shut down. She couldn't sing anymore. But still she tried to continue, even without her voice. She tried harder and harder to sing, but the strain just caused her body to weaken faster. One of her legs gave out, and she knew that her end was near. However, she did know of one last thing she could do.

She pulled out a bottle of ink she kept with her and dipped her fingers in it. Slowly and shakily, she wrote on the fabric that made up 6's grave. Once she was finished with that, she removed the lock from her neck and placed on the oppisite side of the cross. At that moment, her other leg gave out and she fell to the ground. Her fingers, still covered in fresh ink, fell into the snow and turned it a black color. 15 began to drift off, believing she had failed to keep her promise.

"W-w-why did...you s-s-s-stop?" a voice asked her. 15 looked up and saw the ghostly form of 6 standing before her, sadly looking down at her. "I w-want to...hear you f-f-finish your...s-s-s-song..." he reached for her and took her hand. 15 somehow found herself being pulled up."P-p-please...keep s-s-singing..." he said.

15 opened her mouth and tried to sing, expecting nothing would come out. Yet to her surprise, she sang. " _Because my child this is not our farewell...This is not our farewell..._ "

6 smiled as he took 15's other hand in his. "C-c-come on... L-l-l-let's go..." he said. 15 nodded her head, finally understanding what was happening. The two ghostly forms of the Stitchpunks vanished into the sky, while 15's body lay motionlessly in the snow. The grave, now bearing a lock and key on either side, now had the enscription "Here lies 6 and 15, seers, artists, and lovers". That winter, the last life that was left in this world vanished, having fallen to the winter snow. However, had anyone been left, they could have heard a duet being sung by a young man, and a young woman.

_I'll be your very own Nightingale_


End file.
